850 Empty Combat Boots Stand at attention in Obama's front yard
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Common Dreams
American Friends Service Committee
09/28/2009
WASHINGTON - September 28 - Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), a military family organization opposed to war and The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization dedicated to peace and non-violence, will host the first ever memorial to the U.S. soldiers and Afghan civilians killed since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. The exhibit will be October 3 & 4 on the south-east quadrant of The Ellipse, located in front of The White House in Washington D.C. Since the start of the war, 850 U.S. Soldiers have died and credible estimates put the civilian casualties in the tens of thousands. The National Priorities Project says that taxpayers in the U.S. will have paid $228 billion for total Afghanistan war spending since 2001. According to a recent CNN Poll, 57 percent of Americans who responded say they oppose the U.S. war and occupation in Afghanistan, the highest percentage ever since the invasion in 2001. Larry Syverson of Richmond, VA serves on the Board of Directors of MFSO and is the father of three sons who have served in Iraq -- one of whom is currently serving in Afghanistan. Syverson said: "I feel that the war in Afghanistan was wrong to begin with, and Obama taking it over does not make it right. Obama is out of touch with the American people. Americans are turning against the war. Instead of increasing the troops, the President should be bringing the troops home now." Maggie Pondolfino of Portland, Oregon is the mother of a soldier deployed to Afghanistan after serving one deployment in Iraq; Pondolfino who serves of the Board of Directors of MFSO says: "The administration that briefly gave me new hope has sent my son to another war with no clear mission and no exit strategy. I know that no good will come from continuing the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, just more heartbreak, sorrow, and tragedy." Peter Lems, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an analyst for the American Friends Service Committee; Lems recently visited Afghanistan on a fact finding mission and says: "AFSC believes that conflicts can never be solved by military means, in fact true security cannot be gained through arms. In order to move forward, the aspirations and well-being of the Afghan people must be at the center of rebuilding Afghanistan. The International community must respect this principle if there is to be a secure, peaceful and stable future for the Afghan people. Members of Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families Speak Out are available for interview including those whose loved ones are now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan or will soon be sent there, those whose loved ones suffered physical and psychological injuries in Iraq, and those whose loved ones died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
